Practical Effects - Midterm

Substitution Splice

An edit within a shot without the camera repositioning/reframing

Used to simulate something appearing/disappearing/sneak props in

Invisible Edit

When shot appears to be continuous when its not

Used to piece separate scenes together seamlessly

Commonly uses neutral black or white obstruction (like a wall) in front of camera to hide edit

Examples of Substitution Splice

Commonly used in early 20th Century - Director George Melies

KING KONG (Replacing figure with live figure)

Examples of Invisible Edit

ESCAPE FROM NEWYORK (when camera panned from low angle of Statue of Liberty to huge military police based)

One continuous shot during entire running time - Hitchcocks ROPE

Forced Perspective

To create an illusion where distance is disoriented (ex: object close to the camera appears further away vis versa)

When objects are placed at certain distances from camera to appear smaller or larger than they actually are

Example of Forced Perspective

LORD OF THE RINGS - Hobbit appears much smaller than the actors

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND - model of an ocean liner was placed in a desert to look full size

Common “In Camera” Tricks

Substitution Splice, Invisible Edit, Forced Perspective, Camera Inversion, Stop Motion, Dolly Zoom/Trombone Shot, Mirrors

Camera Inversion

when camera is turned sideways or upside down so that objects that are falling may appear to be flying upwards, or a wall appears to be a floor, vis versa

Example of Camera Inversion

when SPIDERMAN crawled up the walls in the 1970s TV series

Stop Motion

When objects, puppets, or people are filmed in stationary positions and then gradually moved between shots so the ‘movement’ is animated by editing the shots together, usually 1 frame at a time

In animation, their meticulously moved with minute precision between shots to appear they are moving by themselves

Examples of Stop Motion

Coraline, Mad God, Paranormal, 7th Voyage of Sinbad, Clash of the Titans

Dolly Zoom or Trombone Shot

When camera is rapidly moved in or out and at the same time, the zoom lens is being pulled in the opposite direction

Creates Distortion

Examples of Dolly Zoom or Trombone Shot

POLTERGEIST - Diane Freeling running towards her children’s bedroom door and it appears to keep moving farther away

VERTIGO - simulate sense of agoraphobia

Mirrors

can be utilized to to increase the size of a set, decrease the size, or perceived distance of an object

OR

Create the illusion that there is a door/window and make it look like someone is inside a miniature

Common Post Production Tricks

Compositing, Matte, Garbage Matte, Matte Painting, Time Lapse, Reverse Footage, Rotoscoping, Rotoscope Match, Video Toaster, CGI (Computer Generated Image)

Compositing

When two or more images are combined to create a single image

Used extensively to create illusions

Examples of Compositing

WIZARD OF OZ - Witch’s Castle

STARWARS - Spaceship Battle

Matte

When a neutral color is placed in a shot so that other images can replace it later (Blue/Green Screen backdrops placed behind actors in post)

When compositing material is placed on objects (Ex: miniature) so that ppl can be placed within it

Garbage Matte

When a matte needs to be used to cover up unwanted objects in a frame (ex: light stands & ladders)

Matte Painting

A painting (now primarily CG) that is used to insert into a scene and simulate an actual location

Example of Matte Painting

WIZARD OF OZ - backdrop

Time Lapse

When footage is slowed down or sped up in post

Used often in vehicular chase scenes to make the cars appear to be going faster than they are or to make miniature movement appear more realistic (slowed down = looks heavier and more deliberate)

Ex: water or fire

Reverse Footage

Filmed normalled the flipped/digitally reversed to play backwards

Used for effects like ppl jumping up into impossibly high places (jumping off first then reversed)

Example of Reverse Footage

WONDER WOMAN - jumping high

Rotoscoping

When animation is painted or drawn onto a scene (or digitally drawn on with a computer)

refers to the practice of meticulously tracing scenes or characters that were filmed first and then painted over and re-filmed to simulate a cartoon

Example of Rotoscoping

Popeye and Betty Boop, Snow White, Fire and Ice, Wizards and American Pop, Tron, Waking lIfe, A Scaner Darkly

Rotoscope Matte

Technique where laser effects or spectral figures are drawn I and animated over live action

Example of Rotoscope Matte

STAR WARS - the lightsaber and blaster effects

Video Toaster

Combo of hardware and software that was used extensively in video production prior to digital age.

Capable of a variety of wipes, dissolves, character generation, create titles, create effects like laser and force field

came equipped with lima and chroma key functions for live compositing, also came with a variety of filters (simulating rotoscoping, infrared, etc)

Examples of Video Toaster

BBC Series

Dr.Who

CGI (Computer Generated Images)

Not considered a practical effect

When an image is made entirely on a computer, created completely out of color pixels that directed to form the image and movement

These characters/objects can be created in front of a matte and then composited into a live action scene

Dominant form of motion picture special effect in mid-late 1990s

Examples of CGI

Jurassic Park

Types of Studio Tricks

Painted Backdrops, Rear Projection, Front Projection, Blue Screen/Green Screen Studios, Trap Doors, Rotating Rooms, Moving and Break Apart Sets, Special Effects Houses

Painted Backdrops

Used extensively in early films

Drawbacks - appears 2-D and Flat if the camera is moved, things appear static, shadows can break the illusion

Rear Projection

Used extensively from 1920s-1970s in scenes where actors would be in a car, boat, or plane.

Advantages over Painted backdrops - moves like a motion picture

Disadvantages: movements and color saturation seldom match properly and can look washed out

Examples of Rear Projection

The Terminator for the future war battle sequence

Front Projection

Brighter than Rear Projection, and matches better with foreground subjects

Requires a very large studio space so that projectors can be placed behind the foreground action and be wide enough to not be distorted

Actors Perform in front of projected images

Blue Screen/Green Screen Studios

When an entire studio space is made up of a flatly lit neutral color so that actors or scenery can be placed in front of it and the backgrounds are composited in in post

Ladders are painted these colors

Advantages: ability to change or alter background elements endlessly in post

Disadvantages: on a smaller budget it can include unrealistic distinction between stage subjects and background elements, halos around the actors due to improper lighting, actor’s inability to see what they are interacting with

Trap Doors

Helps actors/props appear and disappear

Ex: Wicked witch melting in Wizard of Oz

Rotating Rooms

A huge room will physically turn with the camera locked on the floor and the actors is technically on the ground but can appear to be defying gravity

Examples of rotating Rooms

Poltergeist - when Diane appears to be dragged up a wall and across the ceiling

Moving and Break Apart Sets

Sometimes sets will move up or down to make it easier for a camera to move between the floors of a multilevel house or set will split apart to allow the camera entrance into a difficult space (like through a window)

Ex: Dracula, One Room From the Heart

Special Effects Houses

There are many different studios with the sole purpose of designing and staging effects

Examples of Houses - WETA workshop in New Zealand, Toho Studios in Japan (giant wave pool that was utilized for miniature ocean effects)

Types of Gore Effects

Squibs, Trick Weapons, Makeup, Prosthetics

Squibs

An explosive device attached to an actor’s costume that has fake blood packed around it

One of the most common ways to simulate a gunshot wound

Trick Weapons

Ex: Blades might have fake blood loaded into them to simulate drawing blood when someone is sliced; some can retract to appear like ur stabbing someone

Make Up

Ways of simulating wounds/gore - bite marks, burns, head wounds, abrasions, lacerations, decomposing, aging

Prosthetics

Term used for fake body parts

used to simulate limbs being severed, heads exploding, creatures being ripped apart, etc

EX: Aliens, Jaws, An American Werewolf

Types of Creature Effects

Costuming, Puppetering, Animatronic, Animal Performers, Stop Motion, Go Motion, Motion Capture

Costuming

Wearing

can be combined with puppeteering or animatronics if there are more moving parts than a single performer can control

Ex: Godzilla

Puppeteering

When a creature or object is controlled by ppl not wearing a costume but are hidden from view usually using rods or strings

• Hand Puppeteering (Ex: The Dark Crystal)

Animatronic

When the movement of a creature or character is operated with a machine, either with preset commands or remote control

Ex: the shark in JAWS

Animal Performers

The practice of having animals portray robots or creatures when it was impractical to use human actors. Sometimes animals fur would be dyed/painted to appear as something else

Not used as much in the last 40 yrs due to safety

Stop Motion

Ca be used to make creatures move in ways that would be difficult using other methods

Always shot inside a windowless studio

Sets need to free from atmospheric disturbances that can impair the animation between movements

Go Motion

Used in conjunction with Stop Motion

Technique where motion blur is applied in order to make stop motion appear more smooth

Motion Capture

Used primarily for CG characters but has a practical elements in the performance of the actor

Someone is covered in tracking nodes that capture their body shape and movement into a computer's that it can create an animated digital wireframe thats then turned into a CG character

Ex: Groot from Gardians of the Galaxy

Types of Props and Equipment

Miniatures, bigature, Wirework, Motion Controlled Camera

Miniatures

Used to simulate a much lager object (ex: car, castle, spaceship, entire city)

used to depict creatures that are either pupated or animated with stop motion

Bigature

model is a bit larger than a miniature, but is still depicting something much larger than it actually is

Ex: the sinking titanic in TITANIC

Wirework

Most commonly used to describe ppl being carried around on sets supported by wires to simulate flying/superhuman acrobatics

Can be camouflaged or digitally removed

Used extensively in Hong Kong Kung Fu movies

Motion Controlled Camera

A mount and rig for a camera that can either be attached to a job, dolly, or crane where movement can be programmed in, allowing for exact movement

Movements can be altered and duplicated precisely

Also used in conjunction with force perspective like Lord of the Rings to simulate interaction between the Hobbits (tiny) and Gandalf (larger)

Lumiere Brothers

Inventors of motion picture photography

created the first matte effects in 1990 where areas of a shot is blacked out when filmed and then projected on a grass plate so that background images can be painted into the blacked out areas and re-exposed

George Melies

Major visual effects pioneer who used tricks like matte, forced perspective, and substitution edit

A TRIP TO THE MOON

Willis O’Brien

Pioneer of stop motion

King Kong (1933), The Lost World (1925)

Ray Harryhausen

Pioneer of a type of stop motion called Dynammation (featured fully articulated creature and monster effects)

20 Million Miles to Earth, The Golden Voyage of Sinbad

Will Vinton

Pioneer for a type of Stopmotion called Claymation (using pliable clay to animate much faster than with other stop motion techniques)

California Raisin Commericals

George Pal

Special visual effects pioneer in the department of miniature spaceships and pyrotechnics

When Worlds Collide, War of the Worlds

Douglas Trumbull

Special Effects Pioneer and director who created many graphics

2001 the Space Odyssey, Blade Runner

John Dykstra

Miniature effects pioneer who designed the Dykstraflex camera ( specialized motion control camera rig which allowed him to program and duplicate movements and allow for multiple spaceship effects to look like they were realistically interacting even if it was shot separately)

Co founder of George Lucas’s Special effects company (Industrial, Light & Magic (STAR WARS))

Richard Edlund

Visual Effects Pioneer and cofounder of Industrial, Lights & Magic

responsible for lighting effects like in Star Wars, Poltergeist

Dick Smith

Makeup effects artist who created some of the most realistic prosaic effects of the 1970s

The Exorcist

Stan Winston

Designer Make up effects artist who created some of the most iconic creatures in science fiction and horror cinema

Chewbacca, Jurassic Park

Tom Savini

gore and makeup effects artist who was inspired by the horrors he saw during the Vietnam war

Dawn of the Dead, Friday the 13th

Jim Henson

Puppeteer who gained fame creating his special brand of hand puppets called muppets for sesame street

directed the entirety puppet cast motion picture The Dark Crystal

Rick Baker

Gore Makeup and creature effects designer responsible for creations like the werewolf transformation in AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LOND and Michael Jackson’s THRILLER

Carlo Ribaldi

Creature effects creator responsible for characters like 1976 KING KONG, Alien, ET

Phil Tippett

Stop motion effects pioneer ; helped create Go motion process, director of Mad God (stop motion)

AT-AT walkers in THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK

Rancor monster and Scout walkers in RETURN OF THE JEDI

Rob Bottin

Make up, Gore, creature effects who used a myriad of methods to create unforgettable sequences

THE THING, THE HOWLING, TOTAL RECALL

Chris Walas

Creature creator and makeup F.X artist

Mongwai, Gremlins (in the film THEY FLY)

Jan Svankmajer

Czech Stop motion animator and director responsible for experimental movies using stop motion and live action combined

ALICE, LITTLE OTIK